Kosovo Opposition Flock to Sign Petition Against Serbian Deals

Kosovo opposition parties say tens of thousands of people have signed their petition against the agreements reached with Serbia in Brussels – and the deal with Montenegro on the border.

Petrit Collaku
BIRN
Pristina

Opposition protest against the “ethnic division and dysfunctionalising of the country” | Photo:BIRN

A petition against the recent EU-led agreement with Serbia has attracted more than 63,000 signatures during only five days, the organisers said on Wednesday.

The petition was launched on September 18 and the organisers claim the number of the people signing it is increasing every day.

“Around 63,000 citizens have signed the petition against the ethnic division and dysfunctionalising of the country and against giving away territory in the border deal with Montenegro,” the opposition Self-determination party said on its Facebook page.

The three opposition parties in Kosovo, Vetevendosje [Self-Determination], the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, and the Initiative for Kosovo, Nisma, initiated the petition after Kosovo and Serbia reached their historic agreement on August 26, 2015.

The agreement covers energy, telecommunications, an autonomous Association of Serbian Municipalities and the future of the Ibar river bridge that divides the northern town of Mitrovica.

The petition also condemns the Kosovo-Montenegro border demarcation agreement reached on August 26 during the Western Balkans Summit in Vienna, under which the opposition parties claim that Kosovo gave away 8,000 hectares of land.

On launching the petition, the leader of Self-determination, Visar Ymeri, called on all citizens who opposed the agreement to sign the petition.

“We invite all political actors, all voices opposing and all citizens who believe that these agreements are harmful to the country … to join this petition,” Ymeri said.

The leader of the AAK, Ramush Haradinaj, said the petition, was a well documented rejection of the agreements.

“First of all, what is most important is to have the facts in our hands and show the country… that we disagree with those bankrupt agreements,” Haradinaj said.